The church bus was dark and quiet as we rolled through the middle of Arkansas late at night. We were on the way back to Alabama from a youth mission trip to Oklahoma City. But I was terrified — with a racing heart and sweaty palms — because of what I was about to ask the beautiful woman sitting next to me.
Gail and I were both freshmen in college. We had known each other for years. I had had a crush on her when we were in junior high school, but she had become just another girl in my graduating class by the time we finished high school.
We had reconnected a few months before this because of a college class we shared. We had first started talking. Then we started spending time together. I had fallen for her — but I was terrified that maybe she just saw me as a friend.
The time had come for me to ask her if she was willing to have a romantic relationship with me.
I have no idea what I said, but I somehow got the words out. She gladly accepted the offer. My heart was full and I thought my life would never be the same again.

Goodbye, Thomas (2006?-2023)
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